The Australian Public Service (APS) Employee Census (the Census) surveys all APS employees between May and June each year on important workforce issues such as job satisfaction, employee engagement, performance management, leadership, and general impressions of the APS.
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Census Results 2019
PM&C Highlight Report - Accessible version - XLS
Overview of results
In 2019, PM&C improved on 2018 results in areas of staff engagement, innovation and well-being. Compared to the APS as a whole, PM&C staff have higher levels of satisfaction with senior leadership, their workplace conditions, agency culture and support for diversity. PM&C results are lower than the APS average in relation to workload management and performance management.
Context of results
PM&C’s 2019 results are from May-June 2019 and so include results for Indigenous Affairs Group, which at the time made up around half of the Department’s total employees. From 1 July 2019, this function moved to the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA). These Census results, and those in the future, should be understood in this context.
Both the federal election and the announcement of the Indigenous Affairs Machinery of Government transition occurred during the 2019 Census period.
Where to from here
Workload and performance management are ongoing areas of focus for PM&C. PM&C launched a new Performance Management Framework in October 2019 to promote a strengths based approach to performance, and sustain high levels of performance across the Department.
PM&C maintains its commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. In the last year we launched initiatives such as the Inclusion and Diversity Strategy and Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to help realise our commitment and ensure all staff feel supported and included at work.
PM&C is undertaking a range of actions to improve engagement and culture including an ongoing transformation agenda, refresh of employee networks including a new Wellbeing Network, release of the PM&C Wellbeing Strategy and a range of targeted learning and development initiatives to grow management and leadership skills.
PM&C values the importance of the insights gained from our employees’ experiences and perceptions. As well as departmental-wide initiatives, PM&C’s Divisions and Branches continue to examine their Census results, celebrating success and implementing local actions based on their particular needs.
More detail
For more detail about interpreting, benchmarking and comparing the results, we recommend visiting the Australian Public Service Commission’s Census page and reading the explanatory guide for more technical information.
